ICC World Cup 2015: Pakistan vs South Africa - Player vs Player stats
The Pakistan team face South Africa this Saturday in a crucial Group B encounter match, with Pakistan aiming to win at any cost and South Africa looking to set more records in this World Cup. Led by AB de Villiers, the Proteas have won three out of the four games while the Pakistanis have won only two of their four.
South Africa are riding a wave of confidence at the moment after crushing West Indies by 257 runs, while Pakistan are coming off two victories over minnows (UAE and Zimbabwe).
Here, we statistically compare the expected playing XIs of both sides and attempt to judge which team will start the contest as favourites. The winner between each duo has been judged only by ODI career stats and not talent, form or anything else.
| Pakistan | South Africa | Who’s better? |
|---|---|---|
| Nasir Jamshed | Hashim Amla | SA |
| Runs – 1418, Avg – 31.51, SR – 75.38 | Runs – 5616, Avg – 56.72, SR – 89.85 | |
| Ahmed Shehzad | Quinton de Kock | Tie |
| Runs – 2126, Avg – 34.85, SR – 71.94 | Runs – 1513, Avg – 38.79 , SR – 87.10 | |
| Younus Khan | Faf du Plessis | PAK |
| Runs – 7203, Avg – 31.31, SR – 75.29 | Runs – 2213, Avg – 35.69, SR – 84.82 | |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | AB de Villiers | SA |
| Runs – 4993, Avg – 43.41, SR – 73.92 | Runs – 7700, Avg – 52.73, SR – 98.38 | |
| Haris Sohail | David Miller | SA |
| Runs – 442, Avg – 34.00, SR – 77.27 | Runs – 1539, Avg – 38.47, SR – 101.45 | |
| Umar Akmal | Rilee Rossouw | PAK |
| Runs – 2860, Avg – 34.87, SR – 86.43 |
Runs – 538, Avg – 35.86, SR – 111.15 |
|
| Shahid Afridi | JP Duminy | PAK |
|
Runs – 8019, Avg – 23.58, SR – 116.86 Wickets – 395, Avg – 34.26, ECO – 4.62 |
Runs – 3765, Avg – 40.05, SR – 83.92 Wickets – 48, Avg – 41.68, ECO – 5.07 |
|
| Yasir Shah | Imran Tahir | SA |
| Wickets – 2, Avg – 55.50, ECO – 6.16 | Wickets – 156, Avg – 25.50, ECO – 4.82 | |
| Wahab Riaz | Dale Steyn | SA |
| Wickets – 69, Avg – 31.49, ECO – 5.62 | Wickets – 64, Avg – 20.18, ECO – 4.40 | |
| Sohail Khan | Morne Morkel | SA |
| Wickets – 14, Avg – 30.42, ECO – 5.24 | Wickets – 161, Avg – 24.34, ECO – 4.96 | |
| Mohammad Irfan | Kyle Abbott | PAK |
| Wickets – 62, Avg – 29.67, ECO – 4.82 |
Wickets – 13, Avg – 34.61, ECO – 4.74 |
|
| Pakistan 4 – South Africa 6 | ||
From the table above, it is clear that the South African team have a far more superior batting and bowling order compared to that of Pakistan. But with an unpredictable Shahid Afridi and the ever consistent Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan team will be hoping to find it within themselves to gain a victory and cement their position in the World Cup.